Finger Picking

Fingerstyle picking fills a gap that neither single note lines or strumming really can work very well in performing. Only proficient hybrid pickers can pick strings not next to each other with anywhere near the same ease as a fingerstyle guitarist. Having some ability to use this technique can really broaden the repertoire of a guitarist, even if they mostly do use a pick. There are a number of different methods to playing fingerstyle guitar, each with different advantages and tones, but any one of these can let you play some neat things you couldn’t have done before.

A good method to start learning fingerstyle is the basic method of classical guitar style (a few different styles have the same basic method, but normally it is attributed to classical guitar). The nice thing of starting with this version is that it doesn’t require any real thought as to what string is plucked by what finger of the plucking hand. The three bass strings are plucked by the thumb. The 3rd string is plucked by the index finger, the 2nd by the middle finger, and the 1st by the ring finger. The pinky is not used, virtually no style of fingerstyle guitar or bass does. More advanced fingerstyle parts do require knowing when to pluck strings with different fingers, but this is beyond the basics of learning the style.

The example below is just some very simple chord changes. When playing this part, you should let the notes ring together to form the chord. It gives a very different effect than if you just strummed the chord. Keep in mind that you don’t fret the strings when you pluck them, you should change chords as indicated in gray and hold them for the entire bar.

Changing the bass note is very common to make a miniature bass line within the piece. More advanced players can literally sound like they are playing two or even three distinct parts. This is a simple example, but you should still get a feeling of there being an almost half note bass line to this piece. The more subdued tempo allows the use of notes that also normally don’t sound very good in a strummed chord, as seen above in the A and D chords and the low 5 notes played by the thumb.

In addition to playing around with the bass part, a fingerstyle guitarist can also play around with different chord variants. The example below shows a D minor chord with the sustained chords being mixed in. It creates a nice, distinct, but small change that is noticeable, but still keeps the overall D minor feeling going. Even though it does use the same pattern as above, it sounds a bit more interesting by throwing in the sustained notes.

This is one very simple change, and yet it produces a very noticeable effect. A lot of classical guitar parts (not to mention other fingerstyles) use this technique to create some very elaborate sounding parts that are really only very minimal to do. On the other hand, some parts will craft an entire melody with this type of technique, so it can range from a minor little change to draw the listener’s interest to a possibly quite complex, musically separate melody. Fingerstyle guitar techniques can make for a nice, subdued backing or for a very elaborate solo piece with more developed technique.

The examples above are just a starting point for fingerstyle guitar to get used to using your fingers for plucking. If you still want to focus on pick styles, this at least will give you a decent enough background to play some easier, more subdued lines if they crop up. You don’t need to specialize in fingerstyle playing to make use of it. However, for players that want to delve further into this kind of guitar work, work on these samples until you feel comfortable using your fingers for plucking. It is a good idea to have a good command of that basic plucking technique before moving on to the more advanced fingerstyle techniques.

Keep on rockin'!